The Road to Becoming a Son-in-Law

Chapter 173 Middle-aged Uncle

Chapter 173 Middle-aged Uncle

Chen Feng recalled the scene from before.

"Ah...ah!" The man in black let out a painful scream. The poison was so potent that the excruciating pain caused his body to contort, and he collapsed to the ground, struggling in agony. The veins on his neck bulged, his mouth was wide open, and his eyes were wide open as if they were about to burst out of their sockets...

He understood that he had not only failed his mission, but had also revealed the inside story to the other side. If he didn't commit suicide, he would face even more cruel punishment. Neither Chen Feng nor the organization would let him go. Rather than being killed by others, he would rather take his own life and death into his own hands, so that he could die more comfortably. He feared that he would be unable to live or die...

"Ah...ah!" The man in black writhed and screamed as he struggled on the ground.

Chen Feng was somewhat surprised. Just how much resentment and hatred could drive someone to this point?

"Big brother, I'm so scared..." The little girl was still young and couldn't bear to see such things. The black-clad man's painful state was truly terrifying, and the little girl couldn't help but burrow deeper into Chen Feng's arms.

Seeing this, Chen Feng hugged the little girl tightly and comforted her, "Don't be afraid, big brother is here, don't be afraid..." Looking at the little girl in his arms, Chen Feng felt a mix of emotions. She was so young and already had to go through all this...

"Ah...ah..." The man in black was still struggling in pain when suddenly, his body jerked forward, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. Then he lay stiffly on the ground and never moved again.

Chen Feng reached out and covered the little girl's eyes, preventing her from seeing the bloody scene. Blood spurted from the black-clad man's mouth, and the stench of blood filled the air. The little girl asked what had happened; she knew what was going on. "He's dead," Chen Feng said.

"Don't be afraid, and don't look," Chen Feng comforted the little girl, holding her head in his hands to block her view.

"Why did he commit suicide? Wasn't it better to be alive? I didn't say I would definitely kill him," the little girl asked.

"Perhaps he's afraid that if he survives, he'll face something even more terrifying than death!" Chen Feng replied. The mission failed, the news leaked, and the Ghost Doctor clan probably wouldn't let him go. If he lived, he would face all sorts of torture. Death was a way of escaping it all!

"More terrifying than death? What is that? What could be more terrifying than death? Doesn't everyone want to live a good life? How could there be anything more terrifying than death?" The little girl was full of questions and kept asking them.

Chen Feng gave a bitter smile. "You're still young and haven't experienced much. When you grow up, you'll understand that what's truly terrifying isn't death, but fear itself. Once a person dies, it's all over, but you can't live and you can't die—that's the real terror."

The little girl shook her head. "I don't quite understand. What does 'unable to live, unable to die' mean?"

"It means that if you want to live a good life, I won't let you live a good life. If you want to just die and end it all, I won't let you die. I will control you, torture you, and torment you. You can't live if you want to, and you can't die if you want to."

"What does it mean that true terror is not death, but fear itself? Isn't everyone afraid because they worry about their own and their family's safety? What is fear itself? Why be afraid?" The little girl asked, determined to get to the bottom of it.

“Fear itself is actually some dark corner deep in a person’s heart. People have never reached a conclusion about the object of their fear. For example, are you afraid of snakes?” Chen Feng asked.

"Yes," the little girl nodded. "I'm terrified of snakes. Just seeing one gives me goosebumps all over, and it makes me feel really unwell..."

“Look, you’re afraid of snakes, but I’m not. This shows that all objects of fear are not fixed. They themselves are not terrifying; it’s just that individual lives are afraid of them. But all fears have one thing in common: they cause panic, shake people’s hearts, and make even strong people weak. Everyone has something they are afraid of, whether it’s worrying about damage to their reputation, worrying about life and death, or worrying about the safety of their loved ones… If the things that cause people to fear are not fixed, and everyone has the psychology of fear, then the real fear is not outside, but within one’s own heart,” Chen Feng explained.

"I still don't quite understand." Your daughter shook her head. "Could you explain it in simpler terms?"

“Okay, let me put it simply. For example, right now your skills aren’t good enough, so you’re afraid that bad guy might hurt you. But if one day you grow up and have great skills, you won’t be afraid anymore. That bad guy is still the same bad guy, but you’ve become stronger, so you won’t be afraid anymore. So the key is yourself, it’s about whether you are strong or not, it doesn’t have much to do with the outside world,” Chen Feng explained.

“Let me give you another example. Many horrors are completely fictitious, entirely caused by people’s own cowardice. Even when the object of fear doesn’t exist, people will still be afraid. This happened in a college. In a five-story boys’ dormitory, when everyone was going back to their dorms to wash up and prepare for bed, all the boys suddenly started running out of the dorms like crazy, resulting in a very serious stampede. Can you guess why?” Chen Feng asked.

"They ran out of the dormitory? Did the teacher call them?" the girl asked.

“No.” Chen Feng shook his head.

"Is someone fighting in the dorm?"

"No, guess again." Chen Feng rejected the idea once more.

"I can't guess it, could it be a ghost?" the little girl couldn't help but complain.

Chen Feng smiled. "You're absolutely right. But it's not that there are ghosts, it's that people have ghosts in their minds. This whole thing started because someone said there were ghosts and then started running outside in a hurry. Actually, he didn't see anything; he was just joking. A few people around him joined in to play along. People who didn't know the truth saw someone say there were ghosts and that many people were running outside, so they believed it and started running too. Gradually, fear began to spread among the crowd, and the false became true. In reality, there were no ghosts at all; there was no physical entity causing the fear. People just lost to their own minds. Do you understand?"

The little girl nodded. "I understand."

"Okay, let's bury him and go home." Chen Feng walked deep into the woods, dug a large pit, buried the body inside, and then led the little girl back home.

Something was amiss. Chen Feng snapped out of his daze and realized that a middle-aged man was following them. He hadn't seen him at the time. He gave the young girl a few instructions and then left the inn.

"You stay here for now. Someone's following us. I'm going to go and meet him."